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“Gareth has a long-term contract. He’s not ­looking at Russia as a free pass – he wants to go out there and win. But we’re going to do it in a way that’s sustainable.

“So, we’re going to make sure we’re picking the kind of players that can do their best in Russia and continue to kick on in 2020 and 2022. The World Cup is a vital staging post for our development.

“We go out there wanting to win it but also being realistic and, after three disappointing tournaments, come back to a proud nation. Wherever we go, [we want] a ­performance at the World Cup that’s created a buzz, gets people excited.

England owe their fans after poor displays in France, above, and Brazil two years earlier (Image: Getty)

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“What we’re doing is making sure that players that have made it through to the first team by 21, 22, have had lots and lots of ­tournament experience. So those Under-17 and Under-20 winners will be coming through and they are ­serious competitions to win.

“We know that worked for the Germans and we know that worked for the Spanish. So, we’re just repeating things they’ve done with our own emphasis on it.”

Roy Hodgson quit after his side crashed out to tiny Iceland in the last-16 at the Euros 18 months ago, while he also oversaw the worst ever campaign at a World Cup finals as they failed to get out of the group at Brazil 2014.

England's hopes for the future are high after 2016 saw them win the U20s World Cup... (Image: The FA via Getty)

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That is what prompted the FA to go for former U21s boss Southgate to help them build on the young talent after the U17s and U20s won the World Cup at their age groups.

Glenn said: “We’ve got a long-term plan. You’ve seen it, you’ve seen some of the fruits of it.

“Long-term plans are hard to defend when the short-term results go against you. No one wants to have a bad World Cup but we’re confident that ­Gareth is the right guy to take us through for the next few tournaments.”

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Glenn believes that will help England be successful for years to come and he was also anxious not to get carried away by Friday’s World Cup draw in Moscow.

“I don’t think any draw is a dream draw," he said. “We are up against one of the top teams in the world in Belgium.

“We know a bit about Tunisia. I think we played them in the first game in the ’98 World Cup. We’ve never played Panama [who drew with Wales in Cardiff last month], so we need to get prepared for those games.”